Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I heard that my fiancé, Chen Yan, had recently started keeping a pampered little canary.

He was apparently crazy about her in private, hiding her away in his family’s old Beijing residence and never bringing her out to play in our circles.

Someone happened to run into him near his house, taking the canary out for a walk.

That was how the news leaked.

My friends told me to stop giving Chen Yan so much freedom.

“Nannan, Chen Yan has always been such a clean-cut guy. You really need to wise up.”

“He even keeps the canary at his old family home. He clearly doesn’t take you seriously.”

“I suggest you storm over to Beijing and slap him twice.”

I was curious too.

What kind of girl could make Chen Yan, the crown prince of Beijing’s elite circles, descend to mortal temptations?

But I had no idea how fiercely Chen Yan was protecting her. Not even a single photo had gotten out.

From what they described, the girl was petite and delicate, with snow-white skin and a coquettish voice. She had clearly been very well kept.

Chen Yan had even mentioned to a friend that he’d sunk quite a bit of money into raising this canary.

A friend went to verify the rumors.

They sent back a screenshot of a chat.

“Yan, what suddenly opened your eyes? You’re keeping a canary now?”

Chen Yan: “I’d never tried it before. I used to think it looked boring when other people did it. But now that I’m keeping one myself, honestly, it’s pretty interesting.”

“You’re amazing, Yan. What changed? Aren’t you afraid Nannan will get mad?”

Chen Yan first replied with a question mark.

Then he sent two more messages in a row.

“Lin Nan? I’m not close to her.”

“The young miss hasn’t even married me yet. What right does she have to control me?”

Chen Yan and I were, indeed, not close.

The number of times we saw each other in a year could be counted on two hands.

It was just that we’d been engaged in a family alliance since we were eighteen, all the way until we were twenty-six.

It was just that during holidays and festivals, we ate together, went on dates, and slept together.

Our relationship was very stable. In eight years, neither of us had ever brought up marriage.

But there was also an unspoken understanding between us: the two of us would get married eventually.

For the past eight years, Chen Yan had been famously chaste, and I had kept myself chaste along with him.

Now Chen Yan had finally opened his eyes.

The heart I had been holding in suspense finally died.

I even felt a little excited.

Then did that mean I could open my eyes too?

I arrived fashionably late to a friend’s hotel opening ceremony.

The atmosphere in the private room was just right.

Two older girls were holding liquor bottles, pinching a young man’s chin, and pouring the alcohol straight into his mouth.

In the murky lights and shadows, I could vaguely make out his face tilted back.

Delicate features, red lips, white teeth.

After being shoved forward by the others, the young man forced a smile and offered me a toast.

In the past, I definitely would have refused. But today, I wanted to experience it.

After all, Chen Yan had said it looked boring, but it was actually pretty interesting.

But the young man had only managed to say “President Lin” before he threw up right in front of me.

The atmosphere froze over.

He apologized frantically. In a burst of kindness, I had someone take him upstairs to rest.

“Nannan, since when did you start playing savior?”

“I just don’t get what’s so interesting about forcing people to drink.”

While playing cards with my friends, I was distracted.

After a few rounds, the young man from earlier came back.

His name was Meng An. Not a bad name.

He said he’d come to thank me.

Just then, the phone on the table vibrated.

“You play for me.”